A's snap 4-game skid with 10-0 win over Tigers

May 26, 2014
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The Associated Press

by Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

by Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

OAKLAND â?? The teams with the two best records in the American League â?? and the protagonists of memorable Division Series each of the last two years â?? weren't exactly looking the part going into Memorial Day.

The AL West-leading Oakland Athletics limped home with their longest losing streak in more than a year, a four-game slide that included a weekend sweep by the Toronto Blue Jays in which Oakland scored a total of five runs.

Upon their return to O.co Coliseum, the A's found a Detroit Tigers club that, despite sitting atop the AL Central, was licking its wounds after its starters allowed 41 runs in 39 innings in the previous seven games, six of them losses.

The licking merely continued on Monday, and it was the A's administering one in a 10-0 victory that featured four solo homers off lefty Drew Smyly and a Derek Norris grand slam off reliever Phil Coke.

Smyly, tagged for six runs in five innings, became the fifth Detroit starter to give up at least as many runs as innings pitched in the last six games.

"The starting pitching right now is the issue,'' Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said, adding that these rough stretches are not uncommon in a six-month season. "Our starting pitching will be fine. We're just in a really long rut right now. Hopefully tomorrow Max takes them out and rights the ship.''

Reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer takes the mound tonight for the Tigers, but he's coming off his worst outing of the season â?? 12 hits and seven runs allowed in seven innings Wednesday against the Cleveland Indians â?? and he'll be opposing Oakland ace Sonny Gray.

Both were central figures in last year's Division Series, with Scherzer winning two games â?? including a critical relief appearance in Game 4 â?? and then-rookie Gray outpitching Justin Verlander as Oakland prevailed 1-0 in Game 2. Verlander came back to shut down the A's in Game 5 for the second year in a row as Detroit claimed the series.

Gray took the loss in the clincher and has dropped only one other decision since, going 5-1 with a league-leading 1.99 ERA this season, assuming the mantle of staff ace with the free-agent departure of Bartolo Colon and the season-ending elbow injury sustained by Jarrod Parker.

This four-game set marks the first time the teams have met since October, and A's manager Bob Melvin acknowledged there's a little extra special about both the series and the anticipated duel between Gray and Scherzer, whom he managed in 2008 and '09 while with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"Max is really putting together a couple of seasons in a row that have put him amongst the elite. Sonny is a guy we rely on heavily,'' Melvin said. "We feel like all these matchups are good matchups, but if you're looking at it from a numbers' standpoint, maybe a little more high-profile guys, tomorrow's may be the best pitching matchup.''

On Monday, not only did the A's slumbering offense wake up with the homers by Brandon Moss, Kyle Blanks, Josh Donaldson, Yoenis Cespedes and Norris, but they got another stellar performance from Tommy Milone.

The third-year left-hander had to win a rotation spot in spring training and nearly lost it after going 0-3 with a 5.86 ERA in his first five starts of the season, but he's been nearly untouchable since, winning his three decisions in four starts with a 1.03 ERA. The Tigers managed four hits against him in 6 2/3 innings.

"His focus level has been higher, his determination's been higher,'' said Norris, the A's starting catcher. "He's been attacking hitters and not shying away from contact. He's been doing a great job.''